Latest News

The trial of Richard Hirth, accused in the murder of Jessica Rehfeld in the Black Hills in 2015, has been abruptly canceled. This decision came after it was revealed that the defense’s expert witness, Dr. [Read More…]

The manager of the 3M plant in Brookings, South Dakota, has reported ongoing PFAS contamination in shallow water and soil on the plant’s premises. This revelation was discussed during a recent Brookings City Council meeting, [Read More…]

18-year-old Patrick Morris of Sioux Falls, has been apprehended by the police after being linked to a string of 13 burglaries. The arrest followed the issuance of three arrest warrants, all tied to burglary and [Read More…]

Cesarean births range from routine to traumatic. Support from other moms has a healing effect on four South Dakota women. Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of stories on children that Jackie Hendry, producer [Read More…]

(Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) BROOKINGS — Child care is a workforce issue. Providers, business professionals and experts have been saying that for years. On Thursday, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the Department of [Read More…]

(John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) SIOUX FALLS — Around half of the rural Americans served by electric cooperatives expect less reliable service and higher bills because of electric vehicles. Even so, about half would consider buying [Read More…]

Since the start of the semester on August 21, the University of South Dakota has reported four sexual assaults. These incidents, involving acquaintances of the victims, were disclosed to the University Police Department and subsequently [Read More…]

Kwik Trip, a well-known convenience store chain based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, has opened its first location in South Dakota, marking the beginning of a planned expansion in the state. The inaugural store is situated [Read More…]

55-year-old Shane Ghost of Belvidere, South Dakota, has been identified as the man who lost his life in a vehicle-pedestrian collision on Interstate 90, one mile east of Belvidere. The incident occurred on Saturday, September [Read More…]

Matthew Alan Jock, a former Sioux Falls police officer, has been sentenced to 178 days in county jail for distributing child pornography. In addition to his jail time, he received two consecutive 10-year suspended sentences [Read More…]

The Brookings community has been engaged in a debate over the removal of certain books from school libraries, initiated by the website savebrookings.com, which called for reconsidering book selections. Books like ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ [Read More…]

Despite enduring significant damage from a tornado in 2022, Castlewood High School has been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon school in 2023 by the U.S. Department of Education for its academic excellence. The school [Read More…]

42-year-old Nathaniel Kassel of Northwest Iowa, has entered a guilty plea for the first-degree murder of his mother, Jody Duskin, and has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Court records [Read More…]

A 41-year-old man tragically lost his life in a collision on Interstate 90 after striking a deer. According to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, the incident occurred while the man was traveling west [Read More…]

Amazon has announced its intention to hire over 650 employees in South Dakota, encompassing a range of roles, including seasonal, full-time, and part-time positions. The recruitment drive is timed just before the holiday season, with [Read More…]

(John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight) – Platte has been good to Tyler Samuelson and his family. Over the past 15 years, the owner of Summit Contracting has seen his family’s business grow into the largest [Read More…]

(John Hult, South Dakota Searchlight) HURON — Until age 6, Kler Hae roamed the highlands of southern Thailand after school with his friends, hunting birds with slingshots and stones. If they got lucky, they’d bring home [Read More…]

In Sioux Falls, a motorcyclist was seriously injured while trying to avoid a woman who unexpectedly entered the street. The incident occurred on Phillips Ave. between 9th and 10th Streets, with a call to the [Read More…]

Three Brookings residents, Debra Schulte, Jordan Schulte, and Brandon Schulte, have been arrested and charged with 35 counts of animal cruelty, a class 6 felony, after 31 dogs and four cats were discovered in hazardous [Read More…]

A fatal crash in Omaha has claimed the life of 22-year-old Anna Bosma from Sioux Falls. The accident occurred two weeks ago when a 61-year-old surgeon named Mark Carlson allegedly lost control of his vehicle [Read More…]